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Dec 22, 2010 6:12 AM
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CitizenGeek said:

Those that are using words like "shonen-ai" about this episode really, really don't understand it at all. Labels like that totally cheapen the series and the experience. Shinji was sexually attracted to Kaworu, but this is an important character point not just some fan service shonen-ai ...


I agree. This episode doesn't deserve tags like "shounen-ai" or "yaoi." The ambience of "love" did fully obscured the underlying, deeper emotions and messages for a lot of people. Though Shinji's feelings toward Kaworu is debatable, I personally don't think the love was, in any way, sexual. Shinji was comforted by Kaworu, when he was in a very vulnerable state. It's the first time he felt accepted and liked for being who he was. (Though it is true that their relationship didn't develop long enough for Shinji to be so attached to Kaworu. But, the producers had to hasten and shorten the last remaining episodes due to budget cuts, so that's understandable.)

Humans are used to labeling everything into words, that people also have to classify love. Keep in mind that not every emotion we feel are the same, as it is different with everyone else. (Even other languages have words to describe certain emotions not present in the English vocabulary.) Love doesn't have to be black or white; it could be gray, or any color from the rainbow. Shinji's love falls into that area. It could be a human-to-human type of love, a child's love for his parent (since Kaworu indirectly shares a parallel identity with Gendo), affinity from a companionship, or even just warmth/optimism/comfort he feels from a friendship he feels content about.


Dusk252 said:

So, Kaworu was the last Angel. However, those guys sent him to NERV, though they knew he was an Angel. What are they trying to do?

Also, Kaworu said he and Rei were alike. Furthermore, they detected another Angel in Terminal Dogma by the time Rei appeared and then that presence vanished. Is Rei an Angel? What was she doing there anyway?

Then we have Commander Ikari's hand. What the hell was that? Is he an Angel?


From my understanding, SEELE is evil. Though their objective seems to be the destruction of these angels, their true, ulterior motives are to create an autopilot system in Evas, so that they could be controlled without the need for opinionated, human pilots. So, Kaworu was created using Adam's genes (or soul), (which makes him an angel, and also asexual), to invade Central Dogma and fuse with Adam.

Adam is the first "Angel" and Lilith is the second. Both angels and humans were created by them, respectively. We fight angels to maintain our dominion over earth, as both races cannot co-exist. Gendo grated the embrio-form Adam in his palm, so that, after he destroys all angels, he can ultimately become god. (Who knows why and how.) Rei and Kaworu were also created with Adam's genes/soul, so in that sense, Gendo and the two are "alike" and share a bond. The question is, whether Gendo created Rei, a pseudo Yui, to replace his wife, or to use her somehow in his 'Become-God' project. (I have a feeling the first Angel has something to do with it, thus, the embrio in his hand.) I may be off, but this is just my interpretation of it.
Feb 14, 2011 11:08 PM

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What did I just watch?
Feb 15, 2011 8:56 AM

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Akolatronic said:
What did I just watch?


One of the greatest anime episodes of all time.
"Yes, I have been deprived of emotion. But not completely. Whoever did it, botched the job."

- Geralt of Rivia
Feb 24, 2011 12:01 AM

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GunDumb90 said:
You clearly don't understand this show do you? The main purpose of this episode was to show how Shinji realized that the 5th Child was the one person who could understand him for who is his, his first true friend. Kaworu acts "gay" because he is an Angel and they don't understand the meaning of love. Shinji "loves" him(not in a homo-romantic) way because he was the first person who accepted him for who he is and is shocked after realizing that he is the last Angel.

Thaaaaank you!

===

The music. Shinji. The love. Asuka in a depression Coma. PENGUINS.
Amazing amazing amazing.
Mar 16, 2011 3:12 PM
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Danchou said:
wtf? didn't get this episode at all? kaoru was a fag, ikari had an eye coming out from his hand, and what the fuck is a lilim and a lilith??? can someone explain me this?

I don't neither get this episode. Kaoru just appered from nowhere and at the end of the episode he was already dead. Whas we supposed to feel sorry for him? But I suppose this was a really important episode, since this boy takes up so much space of the cover of the Anime.
May 8, 2011 10:27 PM

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Lol, Shinji's love was so brief.
Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.~
May 13, 2011 4:00 PM
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All I know is that I'll never listen to Beethoven's Symphony #9 the same way again...
May 18, 2011 3:03 AM
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haha Shinji is gay.
Jun 2, 2011 6:17 PM

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Kaworu always gave me the creeps and not because all the gay references i mean he really was immersed in mystery, he was an angel, yet he was the 5th child whom Seele chose (that means seele really had control over these angels) so yeah really fishy

Well and so it begins..
Jun 29, 2011 2:57 PM
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so Shinji is actually gay.... that explains A LOT tbh. Still a very confusing episode :S
Jul 9, 2011 9:00 AM

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That shower scene was rather uncomfortable.

Unit 01 holding Nagisa in its hand was cool, music was a nice plus.

Eyeball is Ikari's hand, eh? Interesting.
Jul 29, 2011 5:54 PM

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wow so much homophobia up in this thread
Aug 9, 2011 6:04 PM

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I hated the 5th because he was taking the place of Asuka. How dare he? she's having kind of emotional disorder now and because of that everybody wants to leave her behind(except for Shinji, I guess). I want her back no matter what. After we lost Rei she's the only cool character left =\
Just 2 episodes remaining I really wonder how are they going to end the story for such a short time. But well I guess they'll do it, because I've heard many comments related to NGE's ending but none of them was "It was just too rushed" or so. I think I'm gonna watch these two eps this night...
Aug 9, 2011 6:18 PM

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Meritas said:
Don't expect real closure from them, you'll need to watch the movie too
Aug 10, 2011 3:01 AM

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Now I know what you mean... I hope at least they'll give some closure in the movie
Aug 25, 2011 12:12 AM

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I don't care if people disliked this episode, to each their own, except when the reason behind it is so dumb like half the people who posted on this thread! There was enough people who already gave valid reasons to why Kaworu loved Shinji and to why he loved him back complete with reasons that touch up more with explanation of the characters, which is why I won't bother repeating. So many of you seem to interpret love so single minded, the word has more meaning, especially in this context, but half of you brand it as "shounen-ai" and decide to hate it.

Anyway, Kaworu is easily one of my favourite characters of all time. He's short lived, but he creates enough impact that it's hard to ever forget him.

I was surprised by how long that one moment before his death was too, but it doesn't necessarily have to be brushed under the rug by saying "they had no budget". Whether they did or not, it was still a decision that was made to make it this way. Normally in such a situation, we would probably be overhearing Shinji's thoughts as they raced in his mind about what to do and they could have chose to put someone's voice because it wouldn't have put a strain on the budget. In this case though, we just got the music....

....As we saw in other situations, very often Shinji can't make a decision and someone handles the situation for him. This time, it was completely on him. They could have easily had his voice sound in the background, but instead chose just to keep the music, which became oddly more haunting as we waited while Kaworu smiled awaiting his faith. Perhaps you may have felt it was long and you wanted it to just end, but maybe those feelings were exactly the same for Shinji? Besides the whole episode, that one scene created by a short but powerful build-up, is in a way extremely beautiful.

Knowing what to expect from here on out (I'm rewatching the series), I'm curious for the actual unexpected that we will see from the Evangelion Movie series. I won't mention anything too much cause that would be the wrong thread, but I'm curious how they will "re-imagine" this death. I'm guessing its going to be drastically different, but probably still not something that's action packed. A complete guess though.

So that's my two cents :) All in all, still an outstanding episode for me!
losttyAug 25, 2011 12:29 AM
Aug 31, 2011 4:04 PM

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CPPS-20 said:
pyro_metal said:
CitizenGeek said:
Episode 24 is by far my favourite episode in the series. It's immensely powerful!

Those that are using words like "shonen-ai" about this episode really, really don't understand it at all. Labels like that totally cheapen the series and the experience. Shinji was sexually attracted to Kaworu, but this is an important character point not just some fan service shonen-ai ...


Exactly. Shinji had no one else to turn to. Asuka was in the hospital, he couldn't face Rei anymore, nor his classmates...

He only had Kaworu to turn to. Kaworu showed him kindness and acceptance.

Shounen-ai, my ass..... though I do like the occasional fanart once in a while ^^'


I agree with most of what you both say, but I'm not fully believing in the part that shinji was sexually attracted to him. I thought that both shared a strong bond. Not in a sexual way but through a sort of close friendship. Kaworu gave shinji someone to be close to that Shinji couldn't with others, so in that way Shinji "loved" Kaworu. At least in how I percieved what was going on through the episode, even though there were some "awkward" parts. It was a pretty strong and good episode.


I agree with you completely I don't think shinji was sexually attracted to him in any way.
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Nov 22, 2011 3:29 AM

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Why people consider a poorly executed mindfuck anime a masterpiece? They're weak-minded themselfes?


Why do I bother? I just don't want to live on this planet anymore...




Emperor, give me strength necessary to watch this crap to the end.
Nov 27, 2011 7:52 PM

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My problem with this episode wasn't that it had homophobic moments that didn't really fit with the scenarios. My problem was that it really didn't make sense, AT ALL. I had no idea what he was blabbering about the ENTIRE time! I pray to have my questions answered soon! And Asuka in the next episode? (O.o) Hopefully, we get to see her fight Shinji or Ayanami! Looking forward to the next!
Feb 1, 2012 9:11 PM
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564612
Just say no to shonen-ai.

But in all seriousness... a good episode. But the relationship (or could be relationship) between Kaoru and Shinji didn't seem very ... significant at all. He should've been introduced sooner if they wanted to make a bigger impact. Otherwise, it feels kind of fake. But then again - this is Shinji we're talking about. He's lonely as heck, and would cling to any sort of affection given to him.
Mar 11, 2012 10:13 AM

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Not my favorite episode but an extremely important one. Shinji placed a lot of faith in Kaworu and that trust was broken. He legitimately has nobody to turn to now. Asuka is broken, Rei isn't the same, and Misato simply doesn't understand him. The series is reaching it's conclusion...
Mar 27, 2012 2:44 AM
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Drgentile777 said:
This episode didn't really make sense. The last angel was also the 5th child. Who also fell in love with Shinji and wanted to die because Shinji made him happy? Weird stuff.


Perhaps if you payed more attention to the ep you'd understand. The angel was always under SEELE's grasp, they used it as the 5th child to attempt reaching ADAM, for whatever reason they want. Even if he failed his life purpose, he was happy for having shared a feeling with a human, even if only for a short time.

insan3soldiern said:
Nice to know we have all these homophobes on MAL.
removed-userMar 27, 2012 4:10 AM
Jun 6, 2012 5:17 AM

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I feel trolled.
Jun 16, 2012 7:38 AM

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I think Kaworu would have been a better character if was in more than one episode. I find it hard to believe that a person like Shinji could warm up that much to someone in just one day, when he has lived such a withdrawn life. Now I’m sure Shinji wasn’t sexually attracted to Kawuro, but I’m not that sure that Kawuro wasn’t. I just don’t like how it constantly felt like Shinji was getting played the entire episode.
Jul 12, 2012 4:05 AM

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I'm open to the idea of shounen-ai but i don't think they share romantic feelings for each other.
I think maybe Kaworu is drawn to Shinji in the way that humans fascinate him, and Shinji regards Kaworu as someone with a timely 'confession'. Kaworu subverts Shinji's low self-esteem, especially at a time when he is going through a rough patch and is more estranged from everyone else. Shinji is more used to people reaching out to him than he coming out of his own shell, and Kaworu opening up to him does just that.

There were some symbols in the first half of the ep pinpointing to Kaworu's identity, which I thought were pretty cool. The previous two Angels that attacked took the form of a halo and angel wings, and Kaworu was the final human form that completed the image of an angel.

If only Kaworu could be introduced in earlier episodes D:
Aug 2, 2012 7:50 AM
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Never imagined some homo stuff would have a deeper meaning behind it.

See what I did there? :P
Aug 15, 2012 9:26 AM
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4827
SHINJI YOU GAY ASS MOTHERFUCKER!! I knew it!

I'm so far past knowing whats going on, I'm so lost.
Aug 18, 2012 11:35 AM

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Wow. This thread is full of fucking homophobes, fantastic. Idiots.

This was a good episode but I didn't have much emotional attachment to Kaworu, he should have been introduced earlier. Also I can't believe such a famous character like him was only in one episode (...so far).
Aug 22, 2012 11:49 PM

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I really liked this episode but the addition of Kaworu to the main cast was poorly executed in every sense of the word. Also, Shinji's ideals are really screwed up. He suspects that he's killed his long time friend? He moans for an episode and gets back on his feet in the next. He kills Kaworu after he's known him for 10 minutes and had one conversation? He slips into depression. God I hate Shinji so much. Kaworu might have been an alright character had there been more episodes but that's certainly not the case. Now just two more episodes and the movie to go. I'm feeling sick and I want off this crazy rollercoaster

Aug 23, 2012 6:19 PM

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can someone please explain what the fuck? I've read the ep descriptions i'm so confused..... Is this where the series technically ended? where the last angel was defeated?
and adam is actually lilith? when is this explained and how? I really like this series but I'm so fucking confused especially because right after this they jump into a two episode mind dream trip that doesn't explain much....
save me ‡† †‡
Sep 13, 2012 4:14 PM
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DaBigD said:
Ok...that was...creepy...i guess. Mr. Last Angel is in love with Shinji. And Shinji accepts his love. No more shounen-ai please.

WTB more Asuka
i think it was less about romantic love, on Shinji's side anyways, then about have someone accept him completely and totally
Oct 13, 2012 2:09 PM

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143
well....... that was gay. didnt liked it
Oct 22, 2012 4:45 AM

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I don't agree that Kaworu is gay, in hope for the prayer's of god he is not "gay", in the evangelion 3 movie.
also for me i just think that is the way he act's.

now i am not Homofobic, but i don't like kaworu x Shinji
Nov 17, 2012 4:54 AM

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"No homo", they say.
Dec 6, 2012 4:45 PM
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vytah said:
And when Kaworu's head fell off and sunk in water (or whatever liquit it was), I immediately thought about Hidamari Sketch (ie obligatory Yuno's bath and the end of each episode) and laughed.

Oh God, now I'm going to end up thinking of severed heads at the end of every Hidamari episode.
Dec 6, 2012 4:54 PM

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sfaddic182 said:
well....... that was gay. didnt liked it


Wow, you're a shallow little man.
Dec 10, 2012 10:49 AM

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25827
New child is gay and is an angel meaning the angels are gay... It also seems Asuka is totally broken mentally... But yea really lol that ending...

Well disliked this, didn't fit in the whole story but well the last angel died, what will the 2 last episodes be about?
Dec 15, 2012 9:16 PM

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...What was this.
Shinji acted like he knew the Fifth Child longer than he actually did.
Dec 15, 2012 9:33 PM

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ThreePercent said:
...What was this.
Shinji acted like he knew the Fifth Child longer than he actually did.


It's important to understand where Shinji is coming from here. In his mind no one cares for him, they just throw him into Eva Unit 01 and make him suffer. He was forced to crush one of his friends, Asuka gives him hell all the time, and his dad seems to pay more attention to Rei than him and only contacted him to pilot the Eva. Now, when someone comes to him and seems to actually appreciate him as a human being you bet he is going to grow attached to them no matter how short a time period it is. People want to be loved....and it's no different here. I would say he also saw Kaworu as a sort of "escape" as well.

Keep in mind that merely stating this from Shinji's point of view. It's clear that Misato, for example, really does genuinely care about him...but with his broken way of thinking he just doesn't see it. And, in her weird way, Asuka cared too. As well as others.
"Yes, I have been deprived of emotion. But not completely. Whoever did it, botched the job."

- Geralt of Rivia
Jan 24, 2013 12:58 AM

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lol, the gay angel.
Feb 6, 2013 11:39 PM

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Mfw i never knew how many homophobes were on MAL
Feb 12, 2013 8:08 AM

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Wow, lots of immaturity in this thread. In my opinion, Kaworu represented a type of Jesus figure for Shinji. The only being in the entire Universe who actually listened to him and, as far as we can tell, understood him for who he was entirely. Kaworu's "way" of being does not necessarily mean he had homosexual feelings for Shinji, or vice verse (though, there would be nothing wrong with that) just that he represented and acted upon true unconditional love (which would be key). It could also be argued that Kaworu had no specific gender, as the Angel's of before never had a gender to begin with (again, as far as we can tell), therefore it can be concluded that Kaworu, intrinsically, was neither a male or female, which could have also played a part with his behavior.

Indeed, it is a never ending game of speculation, but I rather enjoy dealing with such ambiguity; being able to consider the large spectrum of possibilities instead of just merely "having" all the answers in my hand. That is how life is in reality, afterall.
Feb 25, 2013 11:24 PM

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11047
Good episode.

Though, I wish Shinji would have another intimate moment with Asuka. I feel he hasn't made up with anyone.
Mar 2, 2013 7:39 AM
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WELL IM CONFUSED! i dont even care about the homo moments cause tbh shinji was lonely a f**k but still, all that dialogue and i just couldnt follow it, once i finish the series off to the eva wiki i go.
Mar 17, 2013 5:35 PM
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I don't really understand all the people that are calling this a good episode or even a good anime still. For me this anime has been degrading the last few episodes to be honest.. Nothing makes sense anymore and the whole plot has just become fucked up. They have been fighting the angels for 23 episodes to prevent them from reaching Adam and now suddenly SEELE just casually sends in an angel to Adam? Adam is no longer Adam but Lillith? And why is this angel different from the other angels? Shinji's father is not human, or at least not a normal human?
Ah whatever it must just be me not understanding it as everyone else is raving about this episode. But if you people do understand anything i'd appreciate if someone could explain.
Morani90Mar 17, 2013 6:20 PM
Mar 18, 2013 8:04 AM

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learn2google
>User since 2008
Please god help me quit this website.

Such great community that doesn't even know how demographics work, AND gives """detailed"""" reviews after first episodes.


Mar 20, 2013 4:17 PM

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CitizenGeek said:
Episode 24 is by far my favourite episode in the series. It's immensely powerful!

Those that are using words like "shonen-ai" about this episode really, really don't understand it at all. Labels like that totally cheapen the series and the experience. Shinji was sexually attracted to Kaworu, but this is an important character point not just some fan service shonen-ai ...


lol you apparently didnt understand this episode too well either. I highly doubt Gainax was trying to prove a 14 year old boy was sexually attracted to Kaworu. I think the point was he was emotionally attracted or in "love" with him, as he could relate to him. I saw no signs of Shinji being sexually attracted to him.

either way, didnt enjoy this ep too much. I dunno why they decide to pull this crap on the 24th episode of the series.
Apr 12, 2013 2:33 AM
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Oh this series and how it explains itself, and it works in it's own little universe, but to the viewer it makes no sense at all. I'm glad I bought the series with the directors cut episodes. Maybe those 3 extra minutes will help everything make sense.
Apr 20, 2013 4:21 PM

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Ughhh. This episode really pissed me off.


Apr 29, 2013 9:44 PM
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Whaaat? Lilim and and Adam being 'Lilith' and SEELE sending an Angel to Nerv? IDGI. Ugh thank God for the Eva wikis. Oh, and this episode explains why Shinji didn't feel weird after Asuka kissing him and stuff. At least there's one thing explained.
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